


Of Midwinter Festivities and Party Bonding

by roxashighwind



Series: Always in a Four Man Crew [4]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Children, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 17:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5549135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roxashighwind/pseuds/roxashighwind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>They were in Austin for Christmas time, something that hadn't happened literally ever, not even when Lindsay and Meg were both pregnant (they had ended up in New Jersey that year, because the OB didn't clear them to fly, so they'd rented a car and drove).</i>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-<br/>When you've got five kids between the ages of one and nine, holidays can be a bit of a mess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Midwinter Festivities and Party Bonding

**Author's Note:**

> [GiveMeYourMilk](http://archiveofourown.org/users/givemeyourmilk)/[NobodyLikesRoastedNuts](http://nobodylikesroastednuts.tumblr.com/) posted a prompt on tumblr simply stating "A Very Mavinseg Christmas," and this is my answer to that.
> 
> This wasn't the intended next installment for this 'verse, but I'm glad to be posting _something_ after so long.

They were in Austin for Christmas time, something that hadn't happened literally _ever_ , not even when Lindsay and Meg were both pregnant (they had ended up in New Jersey that year, because the OB didn't clear them to fly, so they'd rented a car and drove).

Daniel was but a wee bab that year, and Lil G had to act as bodyguard against Andy, Abby, and Elisabeth trying to wrap their little brother up to ship him to their grandparents in Dallas. He hated being oldest then, though any other day he would lord it (and the fact that he was Papa Geoff's favorite) over his siblings.

Meg and Michael were working on the meal, and Lindsay was doing her best to keep Gavin distracted. He wanted to blow up some of their decorations for a rehashing of Banger Week on the Slow Mo Guys channel, and Lindsay had been tasked with keeping him from squirreling things away.

"Gavino, no! You're setting a bad example." She eased the golden stag out of his hands and back onto the center of the dining room table. She frowned when he began to pout, though it only lasted a second before she was rolling her eyes at him. "Lil G does it better. Let's go set the kids on Mario Party."

Gavin wanted to protest, but quickly thought better of it when he spotted Andy reaching into Daniel's play pen while the other two had Lil G distracted. “Oh no you don’t. Your brother is not to be regifted.” He took a quick step toward Andy, a hand out to stop him from lifting his brother.

Andy jumped back, hands in the air. “I didn’t do nothing!” The six year old tried to look innocent, but knew he was caught.

Lindsay moved to pick up the baby, but was brought up short by the resounding crash of their Christmas tree toppling over. “Oh hell.”

“What the sweet Hell is going on in there?” called Meg from the kitchen.

"Nothing! Got it under control!" Gavin shouted in return. "Geoffrey Jones," he started, eyes narrowed at their eldest son.

"It wasn't me!” He protested immediately. “Abby was making Lissa climb the tree and I was trying to get them to stop!" His face was red, the warning that the boy was reaching the end of his rope with his siblings and was just a small push from a fit.

Lindsay put her hand on Lil G's shoulder. "It's okay. I believe you. How about you take Dan into the kitchen with Mom and Dad?" She gave him her hopeful face, like he would be doing her the biggest favor if he did as she asked. When he nodded she smiled, big and bright, and leaned down to smack a kiss on his cheek. "You're the best."

Geoff scrubbed his hand against his cheek, even though he was smiling. "I guess," he said, stretching out 'guess' just to get her to ruffle his hair.

Gavin had the two girls caught in his arms when Lindsay turned to him, neither of them struggling but both with wobbly chins. "Caught these trouble makers. Andy's scampered off."

She frowned at their daughters, and sank into a crouch that put her on their level. "Girls," she began, and reached out to catch one of each of their hands. "Tell me the truth. Did you knock down the tree that Mom worked so hard to make pretty?"

Abigail, the older of the two, bit her lips together and stared at Lindsay, not wanting to get in trouble. Lissa, in stark contrast to her sister's silence, burst into tears. "I’m sorry, Mama!" she managed to get out around her tears and hiccoughing breaths; Lissa always got into her crying hard and fast but it never lasted long.

Gavin squeezed her a little, squishing her backward into his stomach. "Oh Lissa, love," he murmured.

Abby's eyes watered at her sister's breakdown. "I... I told her to do it,” she confessed. “Don't punish Lis."

“We’re not going to punish either of you. But you’re going to get the tree back up and you’re going to apologize to Mom. Both of you,” Lindsay specified, looking from Abigail to Elisabeth. “Sound like a deal?” The girls nodded immediately, sniffling apologies for knocking the tree over. They got hugs and their tears subsided quickly. 

The tree was easy to set back in place; several years with children and pets taught them to use plastic ornaments and secure them well to the tree. At least once every year the tree ended up on its side, and they’d grown used to it. After getting everything squared away and rearranging the presents to spill, Lindsay and Gavin got the girls playing Mario Party like they’d originally planned.

\---

In the kitchen, Lil G had Daniel on his hip. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, swaying enough to keep his littlest brother calm. “They distracted me so that Andy could try and box up Dan!” he exclaimed, tattling on his siblings. 

Meg opened the oven door to check on the ham. “You tried the same thing with Lissa when you were little.” She squeezed the bulb of the turkey baster to suck up a bit of the juice around the meat, and couldn’t hide her soft giggle at the sound it made. 

“I did not,” he protested, still swaying. “I’d never do that.” 

Michael chuckled and turned from the mixer. “You sure as hell did, kiddo. Managed to get Elisabeth into a box before we caught you.” He offered a chocolate covered beater to the boy. “You said you were going to send her to Gran and Gramps in England.” 

Lil G took the offered beater and gave it a quick taste with a cursory ‘Thank you.’ “Did I really? Mom?” He looked to Meg, who was carefully pushing the oven rack back in so she could close the door.

“You really did. But it’s one of those things that kids do. Like climbing the Christmas tree.” She gave him a pointed look before turning back to a pot on the stove. “Did Dad do good with the pudding?”

The boy nodded enthusiastically. “It’s good!” He offered the beater to Daniel, but the baby’s attention was on Meg’s swinging hair as she bounced on the balls of her feet at the stove. 

Michael dished the chocolate pudding into individual dishes, adding a dollop of whipped topping to each one before he moved them to a tray to put in the fridge. “I sure hope so. Who knew making it from scratch would be such a pain?” His complaint was undermined by his pleased smile.

Meg grinned at them and twisted the burner to low. She spun on her heel to smile brightly at Lil Geoff and Michael. “We’ve got another half hour before dinner. How about we talk Mama and Papa into opening a present each before then?” As she spoke she moved closer to Lil G, and before she was done she’d scooped Daniel from his arms.

Lil G nodded enthusiastically before he turned big eyes up at Michael. “Can we, Dad?” 

Michael pretended to think about it. “I dunno. Knocking the tree over may have lost us our Christmas Eve presents.” He took the cleaned beater from Lil G when it was offered to him, and dropped it into the sink. “You’ll have to make your case to Mama and Papa.” 

His face fell at first, but he quickly brightened again. “Okay!” And he bolted for the living room.

Meg’s smile was soft and warm as Daniel rested his head against her chest. “I don’t even care about the tree this year,” she told Michael. She hummed when he wrapped an arm around her, and tucked herself against his side for a moment.

“I know. But you have to at least pretend.” He kissed the corner of her mouth and then the apple of her cheek. “Because the girls won’t learn otherwise.”

She snapped her fingers in a ‘aw shucks’ kind of way. “Damn my being the crier of our little family.” But she was smiling all the while. 

Michael nudged her in the direction of the living room. “Yeah yeah. Use your shitty power for good and teach our kids a lesson.” 

\-- 

There were more tears before the end of the night (even before dinner), but the girls and Andy seemed more willing to accept Daniel as a permanent addition to the family as Christmas Eve slipped into Christmas Day. 

The kids swarmed their parents bed at just-after-dawn, even Lil G who frequently tried to say he was too big for ‘kid stuff’ like waking their parents on Christmas morning. Lindsay and Meg tried to cuddle the twins into sleeping, but they squirmed until there was no more chance of falling back asleep. They rolled out of bed with messy hair and pajamas and the children led them downstairs to the tree.

Two hours and several paper cuts later, the living room of the Free-Turney-Jones home was an absolute disaster. The kids were caught up in their shiny new toys and the adults finally had a moment to breathe. 

“Not so bad for our first one at home,” observed Gavin. 

“Ye,” Michael agreed, arms around the girls and a leg thrown over Gavin’s lap. “We have to go over to Meg’s family thing in…” He tried to look at his watch but Lindsay caught his wrist.

She blinked a few times before she could read it. “Three hours. And then my family in Dallas tomorrow.” 

Meg yawned and nuzzled Michael’s shoulder. “If we’re a little late, that’s fine. Give the kids some time to play and wear themselves out before we have to pack them into the van.”

Gavin bobbed his head in agreement and patted at Michael’s knee. “Good plan Turney, as always.” He grinned at her before a sudden movement stole his attention. “Oi! Geoffrey! You give that back to your brother.” 

The other adults couldn’t stop their soft laughter as their oldest sheepishly complied. 

All in all the holidays were a bit of a mess, but the kind of mess that they loved and wouldn’t change for the world. Even if Gavin did manage to blow up the golden stag a few days later with some fire crackers.


End file.
